We plan to resume In-Person worship in May with appropriate distancing and masks.
April Mission Focus -Care & Share Giving Program This program is offered by the member-churches of the Mystic Area Ecumenical Council to area residents in need of immediate assistance. Contact an MAE member church and they will provide vouchers for food and/or gas. Thank you for caring & sharing.
WORSHIP BULLETIN
HOLY HUMOR SUNDAY “As an Open and Affirming church: We respect the worth and dignity of all persons who come into our church family regardless of race, age, marital standing, gender, economic status, mental or physical challenges, nationality or sexual identity. We promise to support one another in our personal struggles, to understand and accept differences in one another, and pray to strengthen our love and acceptance.”
WELCOME PRELUDE “Voluntary on This Joyful Eastertide” - Callahan SILENT MEDITATION IN PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
CALL TO WORSHIP
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, That the way of hope may be known upon earth, God’s saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; We praise the Lord for the greatest joke ever: The one God played on death on Easter morning!
HYMNThine is the Glory Judas Maccabeus
*INVOCATION AND LORD’S PRAYER (debts - debtors) Imaginative God, you smiled and the sun burst through the shadows of chaos; you laughed and all that is good and beautiful was given shape by you; you chuckled and the platypus splashed in creation’s fountain. We smile because you fill us with new life. May we delight in sharing it with others. We pray in the name of the one who released us by his love, laughing at death’s door, Jesus the Christ...Our Father...
GLORIA PATRI #759 Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit Three in One; as it was in the beginning, Is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
May the peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
TIME FOR CHILDREN
SCRIPTURE LESSONS John 20:19-31 Acts 4:32-35
SERMON A Certain Lightness of Being
MOMENTS OF SILENCE
HYMN #241Joy Dawned Again on Easter Day Puer Nobis Nascitur
PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION
HYMN #230Come You Faithful, Raise the Strain St. Kevin BENEDICTION POSTLUDE “With High Delight Let Us Unite” - Balcombe
Worship Notes
“Voluntary on This Joyful Eastertide ” from Easter Music for Manuals, Set 1 by Charles Callahan, copyright 1991, MorningStar Music Publishers / Birnamwood Publications. All Rights Reserved. One License Song #10-408.4.
“With High Delight Let Us Unite” by Henry Balcombe, copyright 1993, Lorenz Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. One License Song # 1031629. Thine is the Glory, E.L. Budry, 1904; Judas Maccabeus, G.F. Handel 1751. CCLI Song #7053835 Joy Dawned Again on Easter Day, Latin 5th C; J.M Neale, translator; Puer Nobis Nascitur, German 15th C; Praetorius and Woodward. Public Domain. Come You Faithful, Raise the Strain, attrib. John of Damascus, J.M. Neal, translator; St. Kevin, Arthur S. Sullivan, 1872. Public Domain.
We Pray For: those affected by the CoVID-19; the grieving; those serving overseas; all battling cancer; all struggling with financial crisis; those working to bear the burdens of others, and the healing of: Stephanie Murray; Anita Ames; Larry; Grace (Teddy) Graber; Brian Boldt, Seya Bishop, Janet Allen; Joyce Cook; Duane Witter; Deb Janda; George McCullen (and wife Arline); George Danley; Mark Ball (Pat Danley’s son); Marj Misovich; Tom Tuzzio (Beth Thompson’s father); Dave Larson; Louis Foster; Levi Melia, and for his parents Charlotte and Drew; Mike Laing; David Roode; the Gadaree family; Quinn (Melanie Ouelette's niece); and Claire Whitney (Sue Pianka's mom),
Office Hours: Due to the Coronavirus, admittance to the building is limited and wearing a mask in required. Please call 860-535-0379 so we can let you in. Office hours are 9 am to 1 pm Monday through Thursday. Other hours by appointment.
The Mystic Area Ecumenical Council is promoting clean up days in our areas for Earth Day:
Save The Sound is having a clean-up day soon and they are not having events in the Mystic area at this time, but it is suggested that you reach out to the Mystic Aquarium, April 24, from 12-4 pm there is a cleanup for teens - It is ... Teens in Action - Marine Debris and Plastics Clean up at Bluff Point.
Also, May 8 from 9-11 am: Ocean Ambassadors at Barn Island in Stonington (for all ages). The goal is to remove 1000 pounds of marine debris and ocean plastics. To register for either or both of these events, please go to Events Archive - Mystic Aquarium.
A pastor was speaking to a group of second-graders about the resurrection of Jesus when one student asked, "What did Jesus say right after He came out of the grave?"
The pastor explained that the Gospels do not tell us what He said.
The hand of one little girl shot up. "I know what He said: He said, 'Tah-dah!'"
— via Andy Fisher, Denville, NJ
Global Ministries Prayers for Eswatini: Holy God, you are the Lord God- the true and Living God. We thank you for the warmth of your Presence, your faithfulness, and loving embrace that envelops us each day. We rise every morning in anticipation of what lies ahead and the ways in which we will encounter You during the course of our day. We look for you- we long to hear Your voice – for it’s such a beautiful experience to journey with You along the paths You have set before us. Lord we thank you, for Your word says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” for “all things are possible for those who believe.” So we stand in expectation for all that we have been trusting and believing You for to be manifested in our lives and in the world. Amen.
Ministers: the Congregation
Susan G. Latourette, Pastor – 860-759-4231, pastorsuel@yahoo.com
Michael G. Noonan, Director of Music
Kay Lautzenheiser, Christian Education Coordinator
Rosemary Kuemper, Church Secretary
Charlotte Melia, Sexton
Office hours: Monday –Thursday, 9 am - 1 pm
860-535-0379nostoucc@comcast.net
